Chris Kluwe: Vikings broke promise to open their investigation

Posted by Michael David Smith on July 15, 2014, 9:05 AM EDT

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Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe says the team has finished its investigation into his allegation that he was subjected to harassment and hostility for speaking out in favor of gay marriage, but that the team is now breaking its promise to release the results of that investigation.

Kluwe will hold a news conference today in response to what he says is the Vikings’ failure to grant him access to the report from the independent investigators who were hired by the team.

“Kluwe and his attorney will voice their concerns about the Minnesota Vikings’ reneging on a promise to release a copy of their investigation into allegations of homophobic behavior by a coach,” a press release announcing the news conference says. “On Monday, July 14, the Vikings informed Kluwe’s attorney that they would not provide a copy of the report to either Kluwe or the public.”

If the Vikings have concluded their investigation and are now refusing to make the report public, that strongly suggests that the investigation found wrongdoing within the organization. If the investigation cleared the team and its staff, why wouldn’t the Vikings say so publicly?

Kluwe, who was the Vikings’ punter from 2005 to 2012, says that special teams coach Mike Priefer began using homophobic comments toward him after Kluwe began to publicly support gay marriage. Kluwe also believes the Vikings’ decision to release him was fueled in part by his advocacy. The Vikings have said Kluwe was released solely for football reasons.

If Kluwe was wrong or lying, you’d think the Vikings front office would be clamoring to make the report public.
Maybe all the Kluwe bashers were wrong. I guess there’s no way to be sure until the report is made public.

You can take promises to court now as legally binding? What burden of proof is there outside of he said- she said? Is Kluwe also planning on taking the Vikes to court over emotional damages too? Grow up and let it go. The public fully realizes your need to pursue this is much less about public awareness and gay rights, and much more about your own personal gain and time in the spotlight after your career came to a halt. You got butt hurt about it (pun intended) so you’re grasping at straws. It’s just sad at this point.

It would seem to me that Kluwe can do his own investigation and if she has evidence, she can then sue to her heart’s content. Why rely on the Viking’s for that?

Kluwe does have a point in her favor, arguing that the Vikings release him because she sucked at football tends to lose its validity when you consider the Vikings kept Ponder, Cassel and 51 other players who also can’t play football.

“If the Vikings have concluded their investigation and are now refusing to make the report public, that strongly suggests that the investigation found wrongdoing within the organization.”

Or it strongly suggests that they have some collective intelligence, refusing to feed the whims of a media crazed Kluwe, and would prefer to handle the issue internally thereby drawing nearer to an end to this nonsense.

If they found something, release it and let Pfeifer pay the consequences if need be.

Either way, just go away Kluwe. You were terrible the last 2 years in Minnesota and couldn’t keep a job anywhere else in the league. Stop trying to blame everyone else for fading ability and loud mouth. You made your own bed, lie in it.

No it doesn’t!! He looks like an attention seeking loser!! Not releasing the results mean nothing!!! Until they do!! KLUWE GO AWAY! You were average @ best! Not to mention your gay agenda, not all of us have to be on board with this “=” agenda, by the media and illuminati! In 2014, it’s hip to be gay! I don’t agree with slurs, or hate, I personally don’t care, to each their own, but don’t try to sell me on it’s right , marriage?? Oh man! KLUWE GO AWAY!!!!

Can this guy whine anymore? The investigation is their property. And their is no reason to release anything. Maybe is this guy was more focused on his job rather than being popular in the vocal minority segments of our society he would still be employed.

Fact is simple does any employer want to hire a person who brings a side show with them?

So the report most likely shows some “inappropriate” behavior by the special teams coach. Upon viewing the report the Vikings could throw the guy under the bus and make him a fall guy, or let Kluwe file his law suit and ultimately pay the guy some type of fine. Its clear the Vikings have chosen to do the latter; its the right choice for the organization. Unfortunately this circus will go on, but how much longer will people really care about some former player who at the end of his career got replaced by a younger cheaper player and wants some kind of restitution for being picked on by a coach wanting him to focus on football and not a social agenda?

But the foundation of this topic, raised well after the “incident”, was set by Kluwe because he felt the league was “black balling” for his stance on gay rights (among other issues).

But his stats didn’t support that being the sole reason. He’s a tenured vet (higher vet min salary), for less production than the majority, and oh, by the way, he’s the loudest guy off the field – while playing an easily replaceable position.

Frankly, I don’t care what they do with the report. This is football, not a social experiment. Kluwe was beginning to suck at doing his job, and he became a vocal distraction to boot, (no pun intended). If any of us did this at our place of employment, we’d be sitting out on the curb with our belongings in a cardboard box. Get over it Kluwe. You lost your job first and foremost, because you weren’t getting the job done. You had 65,000 witnesses to this fact. That is verifiable, regardless of what is contained in the report. If Priefer used a slur during some part of a discussion, in what is undoubtedly an emotion based career, so freakin’ what? Grow a pair, or thicken your skin, or go flip burgers, but get over it.

Huh? You’d think individuals who happily bilked their colleagues out of hundreds of millions dollars and then used legal maneuvering to avoid facing up to their crimes would be very open with an extremely damning special counsel report…

I’m going to be contrarian here: Maybe they’re just keeping this internal, as a company probably should. It’s a lose-lose for them either way. Let’s say the investigation found that Kluwe was actually right. Then the Vikings get fried. Let’s say their investigation showed that nothing wrong was done. Kluwe and his supporters are going to continue to riot and scream “COVER UP!!”.

I think the Vikings are actually taking the proper course here, and not giving this guy any more fodder for his publicity campaign.

The Vikings Nor Mr. Kluwe need to subject any copy of any part of there own investigation to one another or to the media.
If the Minnesota Vikings decide not to show their hand then they have that legal right. Period!
It does not prusume guilt on the part of the Minnesota Vikings or the coaching staff so quit twisting things around media. It only means they will disclose of their own findings in court. This back and forth “I said will, but I won’t now” happens EVERYDAY in the judicial process.

Yup, sounds like Kluwe, as much as we’d all like him to go away, was correct the whole time. The Vikings look ridiculous now, especially in lieu of getting rid of Priefer when they had the chance during house cleaning, yet decided to keep him. Its not like the Vikings special teams were really all that good. Blair Walsh was pretty good and thats about it. Sounds like the Vikings are trying to circle the wagons and cover their butts.

Maybe the Vikings are playing Kluwe, waiting for him to go shoot his mouth off and then release the document after he’s stepped in it. Maybe there’s allegation of Kluwe misbehaving that they were trying to not embarrass him, but now they can.

The Viking organization closely mimics their fanbase…..stone age neanderthal mindsets. Clueless to the world beyond their limited range of comprehension…..with an annoying dose of arrogance seasoned with a collective superiority complex.

Who’s judging now? Base an entire organization on one coach? Sounds like there are some slimy, classless bigots posting here! Fact of the matter is he lost his job and now he is crying like a big baby. Go get anothet multi million dollar job and preach to a crowd that cares about what your saying. These guys are playing pro football you really think they need another rediculous distraction for one team mates cause.Give me a break and grow up!!!

Kluwe needs to go play on the freeway. during rush hour. Activism is the new hate in America. Never tolerant of conflicting ideas, filled with a self righteous ideology that cannot be questioned, and shouting down anyone who would seek to debate facts on an issue.

If this guy was speaking out about how banks and corporations control our elected officials with this much vigor, I would be impressed and supportive. As it is, he’s a banker’s tool used to keep these issues in the news, divide the sheeple, and complete the enslavement.

For those of you casting stones at the entire Vikings organization, I’d love to know which team you support. My guess is you’re all throwing stones from glass houses. Kluwe was paid like a top-10 punter ($1.2 mil) but was in the bottom third in the major statistical categories. He deserved to be cut.

Kluwe is a damn idiot. Cry me a river, someone said something that you didn’t like. Funny how he didn’t complain while he had the punting job. Just another entitled prick whose looking for handouts since he was ‘offended’.

This is all a planned by the Vikings. They know Kluwe will hold a press conference if they say they are keeping the results confidential. Once he gets his attention fix in and gathers even more media attention, the Vikings will release the results of the investigation as no wrong doing, and they will counter sue the punter for libel and being 12.

Of course something was said. But the Vikings don’t care.
A) This type of behavior is rampant throughout the NFL, and anyone who thinks otherwise is completely ignorant. Opening this can of worms is bad for not just the Vikings, but the NFL as a whole.
B) Mike Priefer is the best Special Teams coach the Vikings have ever had in terms of ST production. Obviously the Vikings want to keep him.
C) It wasn’t the reason Kluwe was fired. Let’s be honest. People say vulgar jokes all the time. It was a poor choice of words, but Mike Priefer will certainly not be putting any gay people on an island and nuking them any time soon. The Vikings are putting it in Kluwe’s hands to prove that he was fired due to this, and frankly, he wasn’t, and nor will he ever be able to prove that he was. It’s not like he caught on somewhere else.

Sick of this clown. He was an average, aging, punter. He was rightfully cut for a younger more cost efficient player. He has gotten far more attention than he ever deserved. Get a job with GLAAD and let us get back to football.

For those of you casting stones at the entire Vikings organization, I’d love to know which team you support. My guess is you’re all throwing stones from glass houses. Kluwe was paid like a top-10 punter ($1.2 mil) but was in the bottom third in the major statistical categories. He deserved to be cut

Considering the Vikings finish in last 3 out of the last 4 years the case for being overpaid can be made for about the entire Viking roster being beginning with 15 million for a rb, to 10 million for a 60 catch receiver, to 8.5 per season for a career bench player who has averaged 4 sacks and 24 tackles over the last 4 seasons and 10 million for the leagues worst starting qb.

This is very typical of the Vikings organization which has been run horribly for decades now. But part of the reason they don’t want to make it public is because they don’t want to alienate their fan base. Minneapolis has one of the largest gay populations per capita, so their fan base has a high percentage of gay people. They don’t want to risk the PR backlash. People should be used to their circus by now though.

The refusal to release the report tells us all we need to know about the findings. The Vikings are idiots if they can’t see that this just guarantees ongoing negative publicity for their organization. Release the damn thing, take your lumps, move on. How hard is that?

Remember that we already had a report saying that the results of the investigation were going to be favorable to Kluwe. Also keep in mind that the Vikings hired outside investigators to conduct it, so it’ll be impartial and probably pretty accurate. I think the Vikings reluctance to release the report means bad things for the organization. They’re either trying to get a head start on their damage control or maybe a way to appeal/repackage the findings.

Either way it’s likely Kluwe might have himself a lawsuit to file against the Vikings and good for him if the results of the investigation merits it. However it ain’t going to get him another job punting because he’s old, overpriced and he sucks.

Could Priefer’s comment possibly be more offensive than the things football coaches scream at their players every single day? I have to think an NFL locker room is full of talk that you wouldn’t want your child to hear, but making a joke about gays is what constitutes a hostile work environment?

I’m a Vikings fan but if they found out something that backs up Kluwe’s claims and are hiding it, they need to be held accountable. There were a lot worse punters than Kluwe in the NFL at the time he was cut. At that time, most people with some football intelligence figured that it happened because of his social activism. If you haven’t noticed, the 5th round pick the team wasted on a punter to replace him isn’t any better than Kluwe at punting (probably worse.) The only thing the new guy has going for him, as far as the team is concerned, is that he doesn’t publicly call people out for their idiotic, bigoted behavior like Kluwe did. That and a little smaller contract. I say let the cards play out and see what really happened. It’s the only proper thing to do at this point.

Skol Vikings! No matter what the outcome of the investigation, good or bad, why would you trust a self serving loud mouth like Kluwe with such sensitive information? That would only add fuel to a now barely smoldering story. Any discussion concerning the personal matters of Vikings Players or Coaching Staff should remain confidential and only shared amongst responsible parties. Who knows what that big mouth would do with it?!?!?!?

IMO this whole legal matter with Kluwe’s accusations against the vikings is based upon money, timing & responsibility.

First of all, the Vikings failure to release the final report to the public is an internal and public admission of guilt without the possibility of being sued and the Wilf’s taking a financial mega-hit especially since they’ve committed to building the new $1 billion+ dome using tax payer’s $. If I were the Wilf’s under these circumstances, I wouldn’t agree to release this dirt either.

Secondly, the Vikings have approximately 2 weeks until the new coaching staff takes charge of training camp. Between now and then, all of this Kluwe stuff needs to be argued, resolved and disappear. As an avid Vikings fan, reading about this for another 6+ months is not my idea of fun.

Lastly, it’s a shame Frazier and Spielman didn’t nip this in the bud when it came up. Coaches have egos too and I’m sure things got out of hand in the locker room with all the type A+++++ egos in the organization…it’s a shame Frazier didn’t have the balls to squish it when it first came up.

Zimmer and his staff do not need to be dealing with this cramp during training camp…it’s too much of a distraction to winning football games and championships.

If someone’s life was lost as a result of ‘coaches’ lack of leadership’ my stance would be different.

If you have nothing to hide, you hide nothing. If the Vikes didn’t do anything wrong, why aren’t they releasing the report? Kluwe was right all along, it would seem. Many of us who live in the Twin Cities and who followed this story from the beginning knew that something fishy was going on with the team. Stevie Wonder could see that Kluwe didn’t get cut because he suddenly lost his ability to punt overnight. It appears that, just as he’s maintained from the beginning, Kluwe was cut because he was outspoken and was a champion for equal rights under the law. If that’s not the case, then prove him wrong, Vikings: release the report and show us how it all went down. Otherwise, it makes the team look really, really bad and possibly even liable for a discrimination lawsuit. Let’s find out. Release the report so we’ll know what happened.

I do believe he was fired for football reasons. However, that being stated, his advocacy after being asked to keep it down probably didn’t help. Alot of companies will work with some issues, however when you add more, they are less likely to.

Did the coach say inappropriate things, probably, alot of athletes, coaches, and most people do. Should he have said those things in front of someone who obviously gets offended at the drop of a hat, no. Should he have noticed and been more cognizant, yes. Should he be fired, up to the Vikings.

I have no inherent problem with the Vikings keeping the report internal. That is what a company generally is supposed to do. The issue comes where they (the Vikings) said that they were going to publish the findings. That is on them, and they will have to deal with that.

Kluwe, we all get it, you are for gay marriage. Great, be the best. However, if you were fired for being an advocate, I think you would’ve gotten another job. However, you haven’t. Maybe you should look more at the obvious instead of the conspiracy.

Geez this guy is annoying. Dude just come out all ready everyone knows you’re gay. You don’t have to have a press conference where you jump out of the closet on a unicorn naked. No ones cares if you are gay. NO ONE

Kluwe seeking attention by holding presser the same day the All-Star game is being played in Minneapolis. SHOCKER!!!! Sad to say it because I used to really like him, but this guy just needs to go away.

linemanguy74 says:
Jul 15, 2014 12:46 PM
And the Packers promised their defense was going to be better
————
This year it was promised. And it will be. By nature of health. But what is funny is that Vikings fans don’t realize that their defense has been worse than the Packers in each of the 5 years in points allowed.

If this goes to a civil trial, the special counsel report may very well be released to the public via the FOIA if the court gives permission. I can think of a who few individuals on here, Carl, ruvelli, bob jr., to name just a few, who would probably be first in line at the court house.

pillowporkers says:
Jul 15, 2014 10:44 AM
Of course something was said. But the Vikings don’t care.
A) This type of behavior is rampant throughout the NFL, and anyone who thinks otherwise is completely ignorant. Opening this can of worms is bad for not just the Vikings, but the NFL as a whole.
B) Mike Priefer is the best Special Teams coach the Vikings have ever had in terms of ST production. Obviously the Vikings want to keep him.
C) It wasn’t the reason Kluwe was fired. Let’s be honest. People say vulgar jokes all the time. It was a poor choice of words, but Mike Priefer will certainly not be putting any gay people on an island and nuking them any time soon. The Vikings are putting it in Kluwe’s hands to prove that he was fired due to this, and frankly, he wasn’t, and nor will he ever be able to prove that he was. It’s not like he caught on somewhere else.
…………….
Finally, some common sense on here! Best post on this thread! Seems like most people posting on here live and work in a bubble where nothing is seen or heard all day but unicorns, star dust and clown music.